


Moved

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: Gen, also one scene may trigger claustrophobia so uh, let me know if I should put a warning for that, much angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-16
Updated: 2018-02-16
Packaged: 2019-03-19 11:03:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13703142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Anne's prison is moved, but she can't find it in herself to care.





	Moved

Anne had thought that she’d never feel pain like she had when she’d first ended up in this garishly pink hell pit. That pain, like a sword slicing through her heart and her gut at the same time, had sent her into a deep slumber. Like Sleeping Beauty. She’d felt like that too, when she’d first woken up. A desolate pink landscape, with not any other humans or animals around, had greeted her. Her heart had ached, throbbing with pain the likes of which she’d never felt before. Anne loved her overdramatic descriptions, but this time, she’d truly felt as though her heart had been ripped out, run over be a herd of stampeding horses and a few trains to boot, and then placed back inside of her.

At first, upon awakening to this intense pain, Anne had been unable to breathe. She’d just lain there on the ground, struggling to draw air into lungs that didn’t seem to remember how to function. The pain had been so intense, too intense, and tears had rolled down her cheeks, plopping onto the ground and leaving small wet spots upon the pink stone, as Anne had gasped for breath.

“Concorde,” she’d finally managed to get out, searching for him with that special bond that they had that she’d denied for so long. For a few terrifying moments, she’d thought that he’d been ignoring her. But the aching emptiness where he should have been swiftly put a stop to that idea. Concorde wasn’t ignoring her. Concorde was gone.

The second blow had come when Anne had finally managed to calm down a little, enough to look at the situation properly. She couldn’t feel Alex. She hadn’t even really noticed, before, that she’d been able to feel her girlfriend’s presence. It had been like… well, to be truly cheesy about it, as Anne was wont to do, it had been like the warmth of having a loved one closeby. Not unlike her bond with Concorde. At this realisation, coming on the heels of the first, Anne had curled up on the ground in a little ball and cried.

Not even being trapped inside that crystal had hurt as much as that initial pain. She was here, in Pandoria, alone, and she’d lost her links to those whom she loved. Worse, nobody knew where she was, nobody could know where she was, because the Generals were too smart to just straight up tell the Soul Riders. Not even by gloating.

Anne had been too numb to feel the crystal forming around her. She’d only cried slightly when she’d first seen the creeping pink veins coming up from her hand. This was her life now. Perhaps she’d die here, or become a Shadow Seeker.

True pain, Anne later found out, was when something was given and then snatched away. On the day that Anne saw a star fall into Pandoria, she’d screamed, banging on the crystal walls of her prison.

“Lisa! Lisa!” she’d screamed, her throat hurting from lack of use. But she’d continued calling her name anyway, willing the other girl to hear, to turn her head and see her. But then, Lisa had been dragged into a crystal of her own while her wounds had been healing. And Anne had wept as the crystal was erected right across from hers, across a gaping chasm. The two friends would be able to see each other, but never touch or speak. And without their horses, they were powerless.

But, even though Anne and Lisa had had to settle for staring across at each other with one hand on the inside of their respective prisons, Anne had at least found some small comfort in the fact that Lisa was here with her. That she could feel her presence. That she was no longer alone.

But now, Anne watched in disbelief as the roots that hung down into this part of Pandoria began to move. One wrapped around Lisa’s crystal, while others began to crush it. Anne screamed, battering helplessly against the inside of her prison with her fists.

“NO!” Anne screamed, tears running down her cheeks. “Please don’t take her away!” The roots glimmered with Aideen’s light, so she knew that they were good, and yet… Anne couldn’t help but feel the agony of loss as the roots turned Lisa’s prison to dust and then carried her out of there, like a mother carrying her child. This pain was worse, crushing Anne’s hopes. She curled up, resting her chin on her knees, and wept bitterly as complete and utter silence descended once more.

The Generals arrived some interminable time later. Anne barely noticed their presence, just continuing to stare at the crumbled remains of Lisa’s prison. She didn’t even feel anything when her prison was suddenly levitated up from the bed of Pandorium that it had been resting on. It was slightly vertigo-inducing, but Anne couldn’t stop staring. Even when her surroundings changed, Anne continued to stare blankly into the distance. This was it. No roots had come to save her. No Soul Riders. No druids. A lump formed in Anne’s throat as tears slid silently down her cheeks. Anne wondered if this was how people felt when they witnessed someone die in front of them.

The Pandorian sickness worked faster when the host was this depressed. When Anne’s vision showed nothing but bright pink light, she thought that she’d just been staring at nothing for too long. It was, she supposed, like looking into the sun. But, when she closed her eyes, she could still see the pink. Anne trembled, frantically rubbing her eyes. But still, all she could see was pink. For a moment, Anne felt like dramatically throwing herself to the ground and sobbing. But that was impossible in her current position. So instead, she just kept her eyes closed, pressing her forehead quite firmly into her knees. She felt sick with anxiety, her lips trembling. She was already ugly now thanks to the pink veins in her skin and hair, was she doomed now to never see beauty again? To never see her Alex, her Concorde, her beautiful home of Jorvik?

Somehow, Anne managed to cry herself to sleep. She didn’t know how much time had passed before she awoke, but she knew that the gaping emptiness in her soul was still there. Never mind being crushed, her heart was now gone. There was only a hole where it should have been, one that was quickly filling with pink light and darkness. And yet, Anne still managed to feel a moment of terror when she opened her eyes upon a sheer drop. Stupidly, she tried to move backwards.

She couldn’t move.

Anne quickly began to hyperventilate. She was truly trapped now. She couldn’t move her arms, her legs, anything. She felt the crystal pressing in on her on all sides, even pinning her hair down her back. She could move her eyes, but that was about it. With nothing else to do, Anne screamed, but found that she could not hear it. She could hear nothing but her own heartbeat. Anne’s skin crawled as she realised that the sickness, or perhaps the crystal, had taken her ears now. Or maybe, just maybe, her hearing would come back. After all, her vision had, after she’d had a little sleep. It was worth a shot, not that she knew how she’d manage to sleep when she felt this frightened. Anne closed her eyes again, tears still soaking her lashes. Or maybe, if she slept long enough, she’d turn into the crystal. There was no way now that anyone could save her.


End file.
